[Sobieski at Kahlenberg Mtn.]

[Sobieski at Kahlenberg Mtn.]

Overall Outlook Remains Positive for Farmers- The contribution margin – or returns after variable expenses, including fertilizer- are very favorable for 2022. The measure can be hard to compare over time as fixed expenses have trended higher, but the budgeted outlook is improved from 2021 and much better than recent conditions. Again consider 2015, a year when fertilizer expense had come down (Figure 1) but was a large share of budgeted revenue (Figure 3). Contribution margins were also very tight this year as the economic outlook wasn’t favorable. Producers that year had just $239 per acre in contribution margins budgeted for corn, compared to $437 for 2022.